2011 February | Run Bitches!

Running Outside :)

So good to be able to get back outside and do some running.

Friday was nice and warm with a little rain. David and I took advantage of the warm weather and break in the rain to run a nice 4.5 mile route through Center City Philadelphia. Unfortunately about 3 miles in the skies opened up and we finished our run in a downpour.
On the bright side we did make it inside 3 minutes before the thunder and lightning hit.
map - 4.5 mile run through Philly

Saturday was a bit colder coming in around 37 degrees when Zach, AJ and I took to the streets for a 4 mile run through Kingston neighborhood in Cherry Hill. Zach and AJ road their bikes while I road my sneakers. We made decent time and I sprinted the last 1/2 mile.
map - 4 mile run - Kingston Neighborhoo, Cherry Hill NJ

The streets are a little tougher on my feet and knees, but so much more entertaining.

The push up challenge is still cruising along nicely as well. Last night I did week 3 day 2 – 20, 25, 15, 15 then max (31). Although my number of pushups dropped significantly when I fixed my form, it only took 2 weeks to get back where I was and now I’m doing them the right way. Makes me happy. I’m also really happy with the way my body is responding.

If you are on facebook you can check out my latest video from week 3 day 1: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1737268684328

I have a few weeks left until my first races of the season.

March 20th – 10k – Get Your Rear in Gear – http://www.getyourrearingear.com/events/list/2011/philadelphia-pa/
March 26th – 5k Phillies inaugural run (sold out) http://mlb.mlb.com/phi/community/y2011/fivek.jsp

April 9th – Tough Mudder Obstacle course (Sold Out) - http://toughmudder.com/events/pennsylvania/

let me know what events you have planned.

Keep running! – Cardio is your first line of defense against the zombie invasion.

hundred push up challenge – week 2, day 2

As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve had to back up my training a little bit to deal with the better form.

I’m still not getting it down 100%.

So without further ado, here is week 2 day 2 – The Valentines Addition:

and in my max set I don’t think I went deep enough.

hundred pushup challenge – Week 3, Day 2

Today I’ll be doing – 20, 25, 15, 15, Max (minimum 25)

Seems like a pretty big jump from what I did on Wednesday, but if you don’t push yourself you’ll never improve.

After I finish the push ups today I’ll be running for a few miles followed by an afternoon of meetings.

I’ll update this post with short video and info on how it went later.

…

Ok, so that didn’t go so well. I had a personal trainer show me the right way to do push ups. I had my elbows going out to the side instead of to the back. Turns out you are supposed to keep your elbows in towards your waist a bit.

Once I had the form down, I couldn’t do nearly as many. I’m going to back up my training a week or two and start over.

Here is me demonstrating closer to the right way. My elbows still want to go out to the sides. I imagine it will take a while.

and another set and view:

and finally – my form goes to shit:

Oh well, back to the drawing board for me.

Here is an actual good example of good form pushups:

Goals

I feel like you need to have goals in order to succeed.

so here is a video full of impossible things to strive for

and more awesome upper body strength, used for showing off in an entertaining way:

100 push ups – Day 1

so I managed 34 pushups on my initial test. Don’t stress out if you only did 1, 5 or 15 – you don’t need to be fit to start getting fit

I’m skipping to week 3 of the training program as directed and working on column 3.

today I’ll do 14,18,14,14,max (min20) – with 60 seconds rest in between.

One question I have is how important is rest? I think 60 seconds seems a bit long to rest. The day 2 and day 3 have even longer rest periods.
I don’t know if I want to rest that long. Do I have to?

if anyone finds an answer please let me know.

One recommendation I have is to get a watch, or phone, or something to time your 1 minute breaks. It keeps your workout brisk.

100 Push Up Challenge! starting today

OK, so we are going to take the 100 push up challenge. I got 5 people ready to do it with me. Join us in getting a stronger and healthier body.

the whole thing takes about 30 minutes a week and takes 6 weeks to complete.

Start by doing an initial test, today – do as many good form pushups as you can.
90 degree angle (parallel to the deck as my marine buddies would say) on the arms, you don’t need to touch the ground, but you should be close.

after you finish the test you can see how many sets/reps you need to do.

http://www.hundredpushups.com/week1.html

I’ll record mine on video for you to play along.
100 push up challenge – initial test

You can see I started with good form and got a little rough at the end.